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20 May 2014 - Best Beer HQ

The strongest beer in the world: Snake Venom

At a whopping 67.5% alcohol by volume, aptly-named Scottish beer Snake Venom is currently the strongest beer in the world.

Banchory-based brewery Brewmeister has taken the title of strongest beer in the world from previous record-holder ABV Armageddon (also by Brewmeister), which is 65% alcohol by volume. In comparison, your typical bottle of vodka is usually only around 40% alcohol.

The Brewmeister website says that while the alcohol is strong, “the beer still tastes like a beer rather than a spirit. It’s hoppy, malty and very pleasant”.

However, not only does Snake Venom come with a warning label advising punters not to drink more than 35ml in one sitting but it comes with a pretty hefty price tag, too. One 275ml bottle of Snake Venom costs about $80 US – and that doesn’t include shipping.

Brewers Lewis Shand and John McKenzie told Scotland’s Daily Record that it should be poured like a whisky. “There are too many bland beers out there and we are trying to push the limits. It’s still a beer, but it’s something different,” they said.

They managed to increase the alcohol content of the beer by freezing the mixture several times during the fermentation process.

“Snake Venom is definitely sharper in taste. With Armageddon, we actually tried to disguise the taste by making it quite oily. We thought if it was too strong, people wouldn’t like it… this time we thought we’d go full out. We were too nice last time.”